About

Pokémon GO In-Game Screenshots are an internet phenomenon shared by players of the popular mobile game Pokémon GO when they find Pokémon in strange or amusing places.

Origin

Following Pokémon GO's release on July 6th, 2016, people began to upload screenshots of Pokémon in strange places. Redditor ReallyBadCafe posted a photograph of a Magikarp Pokémon found on a frying pan in a kitchen in Pokémon GO to the /r/pokemon^[1] subreddit (shown below, left). On July 7th, Redditor kbzero submitted a screenshot of a Diglett Pokémon rising out of a toilet in the game's augmented reality viewfinder to /r/pokemon^[2] (shown below, middle). Meanwhile, Redditor wastedjoel posted a picture of the Pokemon Gastly discovered in a hospital room in the game to /r/funny^[3] (shown below, right).

Spread

Pokémon GO's massive success meant screenshots almost immediately began appearing on social media. Recognizing the potential for humorous viral content, gaming publications like IGN^[4] and Nerdist^[5] asked their readers to share their best screenshots. Many screenshots feature Pokémon in humorous places, such as on the toilet or on a dinner plate, but as players have gained more experience with the game, lewd and surreal screenshots have grown in notoriety. Only five days after Pokémon GO's release, Buzzfeed^[6] published a roundup of people taking "dick pics" with the Pokémon Diglett.

The ubiquity of Pokémon GO screenshots has also spawned a photoshop template where the the Pokémon are replaced with something else, such as a preexisting meme, or a real life animal.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References